I was planning on saving the Boston Calling adventure for the End Of The Month Wrap Up, but so much ended up happening, I figured it might be deserving of it’s own post.
The tickets to Boston Calling were a splurge but since the roomie was able to walk again, I figured he deserved something awesome. We got in a little late so we did miss most of Future Islands’ set but they did seem to set the tone off right for the night.
City Hall Plaza is all steps so it was a bit rough for my roommate walking around, but we managed to get up close for Neutral Milk Hotel. At the request of the band, I didn’t take any images or video of the performance and just experienced it. A few people did film, but I mean, if an artist requests something, I usually honor that request. I guess it could be because of my own history in the arts and wanting my voice heard as I intended it through my art. The pre-performance screen letting you know the group was up next is all you’re getting outta this girl!
Last up for Friday night was The National. We moved back to get the roomie some relief on his feet. The great part of the plaza is that they have waist high columns large enough for people to sit comfortably and still see the two stages. The National did get the crowd going, but the feedback from the cement buildings did affect them a bit. I noticed it with a few bands but being surrounded by a concrete jungle, you had to forgive them for it, it’s a bit unusual to be outside with skyscrapers!
Saturday started off great! We made out way down on the train, caught lunch at Faneuil Hall while watching some amazing break dancers and headed in. Sky Ferreira delivered an amazing performance. I had some reservations about her, just knowing she had a drug bust and opened for Miley, but she brought back some rock chick moments from my teen years for me. Her keyboardist was great, controlling pretty much the whole show from his pedals and we even managed to bump into them on their way out while we headed to lunch across the street!
After lunch, we managed to get settled back in when the rain storm called off the late afternoon acts. I was actually picking up some smokes at 7-11 and heard it on the loud speaker. Knowing the roommate had issues walking and there was a horde of people leaving the venue, I panicked a bit. He managed to leave fine since he waited and there were multiple exits open. We hung around for an hour and the skies cleared up a bit so we made our way over to the entrance.
Social media was slow to update so we didn’t catch there was a longer delay in acts, so we waited for a bit before the cops announced the street was being closed. After that, we walked more. Back to North Station actually, since there were bathrooms and we could maybe catch a train if the show was cancelled. It was getting late after all and social media updates were vague.
They finally announced that the show was on and gates were opened. We walked back and realized a massive group of people was not moving and getting pretty anxious and upset. We sat on some stairs away from the crowd but eventually a few kids hopped the fences behind us. Not great, since if the fences fell or if there was a rush, we couldn’t move fast. We walked around the corner and tried to get in the exit we left from. Denied. We could hear music starting so we were anxious to get in. Girl Talk had already been cancelled and we knew Lorde would likely be a shortened set. We made our way all the way back around and the crowd was still anxious. They opened the gates up and people started rushing them, with and without tickets. The handicap ramp was overrun. We made it in after somebody was kind enough to flank my roommate’s right side. Staying back from the massive crowd, we still almost were trampled a few times as people kept rushing in. How they didn’t let people in a little sooner or through the same exits we all left from amazes me.
Since it was so unsafe for people, especially handicap people, we ended up talking with a supervisor of the staff. The roommate was upset and rightfully so, the tickets said it was accessible and it certainly wasn’t. Due to the issues, we were upgraded to VIP for Lorde, Childish Gambino and all of Sunday, this way it would be more comfortable and safer.
I must say, despite the amount of stress from the chaos after the rain, they really did make up for it. There were other handicap people there and how they got around is amazing and thankfully, Sunday, there seemed to be a lot more options and upgrades for people on crutches, wheelchairs and whatnot.
Twenty-One Pilots was a group that surprised me on Sunday. Well, I guess that’s because I hadn’t heard of them and they put on a great stage show! They actually brought instruments that were secured to plywood into the crowd to play on top of. It was crazy! I’m planning on downloading some music from them, but we’ll see if I like them recorded enough to buy an album!
Nas and the Roots were incredible. I did think that they would play more together instead of separately and blended between the two acts. They acted more of hype men for one or two songs of each other’s. I had never seen either perform and it was mind blowing. I can’t wrap my head around it!
There are tons of videos so please be sure to hop on over to my Instagram account to check them all out!! Enjoy!!!
My Dad's Albums 